Achieving Happiness is an Art, And Here’s the Secret to It

Human history has witnessed remarkable women over the years who have left behind a lasting impact on millions of lives around the world. And luckily, we have many who continue to strive for the betterment of humanity even today. One such woman is Jo Brand, a comedian who has not only stood up for women against all odds but has also faced death threats with relentless bravery.

All of this can be found in her recently published book called Born Lippy: How to do Female, a tongue-in-cheek narrative of some of the most interesting stories from her life, especially those that highlight the different expectations society places on women. The book is also advisory in nature, offering women useful insight into being a woman in the 21st century.

Human history has witnessed remarkable women over the years that have left behind a lasting impact on millions of lives around the world

For Her Daughters

According to Jo, the inspiration for her book came from the divide she felt existed in her own thinking and the thinking of her daughters, which is understandable considering there is a multi-generational gap between them because she had her eldest one in her mid-40s. This book is her attempt at bridging that gap in the thinking process of her daughters and herself, and she wrote it as if she was giving advice to her daughters.

That is why the book has a very candid tone, which makes it a book unlike most advice-related books out in the market. Jo is not interested in giving advice to people, rather she is more inclined to share her own experiences and how she dealt with the problems she faced in her life, and if the readers relate to her experiences and are facing similar problems, then they may choose to solve them like she did. Simply put, she does not explicitly give out advice, the readers of the book must make inferences from within the anecdotes she has shared.

That is why the book has a very candid tone, which makes it a book unlike most advice-related books out in the market

The Secret Path to a Happy Life

A definite lesson Jo has learned from her life experiences, as she details in her book as well, is that the path to a sustained state of happiness is much simpler than what most of us think. According to her, a major reason why many of us are unable to attain a happy state of mind is because we keep aspiring to attain things which we don’t have, rather than appreciating what we do.

The secret to a happy life, according to Jo, is this: lower the expectations which we harbor in our mind about everything, whether its about career, people, or success in general, as when those expectations are not met, we end up disappointed, which in turn leads to a general sense of dissatisfaction in life.

For The Women

Jo’s book has experiences that relate to various situations women face on a daily basis. For example, it has anecdotes of the times Jo has faced bullies, and how she managed those situations. The book also extensively talks about the freedom that comes from being different, highlighting the many experiences where it became apparent to Jo that to be different is a difficult choice considering all the backlash that comes from society.

Jo’s book has experiences that relate to various situations women face on a daily basis

In one of the sections of the book, Jo talks about her experience on the show What Not To Wear. The theme of the show revolved around first critiquing the women invited as guests on the show about their choice of clothing, and then giving them a makeover to make them more glamorous and feminine. Since Jo already had very low expectations of what the show will be like, she was not disappointed with the experience at all. Rather, she found the entire experience quite weird.

However, Jo does describe the impact the show may have had on many women. While nobody could care less about what these women wore, this show, especially the way it panned out, made them care about it. Not only this show, but generally, such attention is given to a way a woman is dressed.

Jo refers to her own defiance to the standard set for women to dress up a certain way, especially at events such as premiere shows, and now that she does not expect people to praise her dressing, not only has she become more comfortable wearing whatever she wants to such events, but also finds all the comments she ultimately receives about her look quite hilarious.